A majority of local Conservative Party chairmen are opposed to the Government’s plans to legalise same-sex ‘marriage’, a new ComRes poll has revealed.

The poll, carried out on behalf of the Coalition for Marriage, found that 71 per cent of Tory constituency chairmen believe Mr Cameron should back down from his same-sex ‘marriage’ plan. 47 per cent believe the controversial proposal has resulted in the loss of party members.

Seven out of 10 said that the plans had damaged Mr Cameron’s standing with the party and six in 10 said they believed that his stance on the issue would lead to a loss of votes.

Colin Hart, Campaign Director of the Coalition for Marriage, said:

“What this latest poll reflects is the growing unease amongst grassroot Conservatives about the way the PM is trying to force through this policy without any electoral mandate and without any acknowledgement of the profound consequences this change will have.

“If the PM continues to press ahead with this deeply unpopular, radical and profoundly undemocratic proposal, then he can expect to pay the price for this at the ballot box.

“The Prime Minister, who has made a virtue of ditching unpopular or disastrous policies, cannot ignore the mounting opposition to redefining marriage. This includes in his own constituency, his own party and increasingly in our country.”

Widespread opposition

A recent poll by ComRes also found that 74 per cent of messages received by MPs from their constituents on the issue of same-sex ‘marriage’ were opposed to its introduction, with nearly half (47 per cent) of MPs reporting that the messages were “strongly negative.”

In July, it was reported that Conservative party members were concerned the Government’s proposal to redefine marriage had caused “haemorrhaging” of Party membership. Numbers have dropped by 60 per cent from 300,000 to below 130,000 since Mr Cameron took over in 2005.

Previous polls have suggested that more than half (56 per cent) of Mr Cameron’s constituents who voted for him in 2010 are opposed to his plans to legalise same-sex ‘marriage’ and that the move could cost the Conservatives between 8 and 28 seats at the next election.